2019_Florida_Tech_Panthers_football_team
2019 Florida Tech Panthers football team
American college football season
The 2019 Florida Tech Panthers football team represented the Florida Institute of Technology (FIT) during the 2019 NCAA Division II football season. They were led by seventh-year head coach Steve Englehart. The Panthers played their home games at Florida Tech Panther Stadium, approximately one mile from the Florida Tech campus, and were members of the Gulf South Conference. In May 2020, Florida Tech shut down its football program due to budget cuts that followed the COVID-19 pandemic.[1]
| 2019 Florida Tech Panthers football | |
|---|---|
| Conference | Gulf South Conference |
| Record | 5–6 (3–5 GSC) |
| Head coach |
|
| Offensive coordinator | Jayson Martin (7th season) |
| Defensive coordinator | Aaron Archie/Brian Vaughn (1st season) |
| Home stadium | Florida Tech Panther Stadium |
Seasons | |
| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | W | L | W | L | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 5 Valdosta State $^ | 8 | – | 0 | 10 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 1 West Florida ^ | 7 | – | 1 | 13 | – | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Delta State | 5 | – | 3 | 6 | – | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| West Georgia | 4 | – | 4 | 6 | – | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mississippi College | 4 | – | 4 | 5 | – | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| West Alabama | 3 | – | 5 | 6 | – | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Florida Tech | 3 | – | 5 | 5 | – | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| North Greenville | 2 | – | 6 | 3 | – | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Shorter | 0 | – | 8 | 1 | – | 10 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Gulf South Conference coaches poll
On August 1, 2019, the Gulf South Conference released their preseason coaches poll with the Panthers predicted to finish in 5th place in the conference.[2]
| Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Valdosta State | 64 (8) |
| 2 | West Georgia | 55 |
| 3 | West Alabama | 49 |
| 4 | West Florida | 44 (1) |
| 5 | Florida Tech | 37 |
| 6 | Delta State | 28 |
| 7 | North Greenville | 24 |
| 8 | Mississippi College | 15 |
| 9 | Shorter | 8 |
Preseason All-Gulf South Conference Team
The Panthers had four players at four positions selected to the preseason all-Gulf South Conference team.[3]
|
Offense No players were selected Defense John McClure – DB Special teams No players were selected |
Florida Tech 2019 football schedule consists of five home and six away games in the regular season. The Panthers will host GSC foes Shorter, West Alabama, West Florida, and West Georgia, and will travel to Delta State, Mississippi College, North Greenville, and Valdosta State.[4]
The Panthers will host one of the three non-conference games against Fort Valley State from the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) and will travel to Newberry from the South Atlantic Conference (SAC) and Savannah State also from the SIAC.
Two of the eleven games will be broadcast on ESPN3 and ESPN+, as part of the Gulf South Conference Game of the Week.[5]
The Week One game at Savannah State, originally scheduled for September 7, was moved back a day due to Hurricane Dorian.[6]
The Week Seven game at Valdosta State, originally scheduled for a 3 P.M. kickoff on October 19, was moved back to a 7 P.M. start due to the forecast approach of Tropical Storm Nestor earlier in the day.[7]
| Date | Time | Opponent | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 8 | 2:00 p.m. | at Savannah State* | W 23-22 | 3,028 | ||
| September 14 | 1:00 p.m. | at Newberry* | W 30-28 | 2,944 | ||
| September 21 | 7:00 p.m. | at Delta State | ESPN3 | L 28-30 | 6,665 | |
| September 28 | 7:00 p.m. | West Georgia | W 44-10 | 2,450 | ||
| October 5 | 7:00 p.m. | Fort Valley State* |
| L 29-33 | 2,400 | |
| October 12 | 8:00 p.m. | at Mississippi College | L 14-34 | 2,507 | ||
| October 19 | 7:00 p.m. | at No. 1 Valdosta State | L 28-55 | 4,631 | ||
| October 26 | 1:00 p.m. | No. 20 West Florida |
| ESPN+ | L 14-38 | 2,215 |
| November 2 | 2:00 p.m. | West Alabama |
| L 10-13 | 878 | |
| November 9 | 1:30 p.m. | at North Greenville | W 17-14 2OT | 3,744 | ||
| November 16 | 2:00 p.m. | Shorter |
| W 42-3 | 1,450 | |
| ||||||
- Schedule Source:[4]
Rankings
| Week | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | Final |
| AFCA | RV | RV | RV | — | RV | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
At Savannah State
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Panthers | 7 | 0 | 3 | 13 | 23 |
| Tigers | 0 | 6 | 0 | 16 | 22 |
At Newberry
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Panthers | 10 | 13 | 7 | 0 | 30 |
| Wolves | 0 | 14 | 0 | 14 | 28 |
At Delta State
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Panthers | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 28 |
| Statesmen | 10 | 6 | 11 | 3 | 30 |
West Georgia
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wolves | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| Panthers | 13 | 14 | 17 | 0 | 44 |
Fort Valley State
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wildcats | 0 | 13 | 6 | 14 | 33 |
| Panthers | 10 | 10 | 6 | 3 | 29 |
At Mississippi College
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Panthers | 0 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 14 |
| Choctaws | 7 | 7 | 14 | 6 | 34 |
At Valdosta State
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Panthers | 14 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 28 |
| Blazers | 14 | 27 | 0 | 14 | 55 |
West Florida
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Argonauts | 7 | 10 | 14 | 7 | 38 |
| Panthers | 0 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 14 |
West Alabama
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tigers | 0 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 13 |
| Panthers | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
At North Greenville
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | 2OT | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Panthers | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 17 |
| Crusaders | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
Shorter
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hawks | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Panthers | 14 | 21 | 0 | 7 | 42 |
Gulf South Conference honors
Five players from Florida Tech were honored as All-GSC selections by the league's coaches.[8]
Gulf South Conference All-Conference First Team
- Evan Thompson, LB
Gulf South Conference All-Conference Second Team
- Miles Kelly, WR
- Kenny Hiteman, TE
- Tyrone Cromwell, DB
- John McClure, DB
Gulf South Conference Offensive Player of the Week
- September 30: Mike Diliello, QB [9]
Gulf South Conference Freshman of the Week
- Rogers, Eric; Neale, Rick (October 26, 2021). "Florida Tech cuts football program, announces layoffs due to COVID-19 impacts". Florida Today. Melbourne, Florida. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
- "Football Picked Fifth in GSC Preseason Poll". Florida Institute of Technology Department of Athletics. Retrieved August 27, 2019.
- "Englehart Announces 2019 Football Schedule" (Press release). Florida Institute of Technology Department of Athletics. February 14, 2019. Retrieved August 27, 2019.
- "ESPN to Stream Two Football Games this Season". Florida Institute of Technology Department of Athletics. August 6, 2019. Retrieved August 27, 2019.
- "Football's Season Opener Postponed Til Sunday". Florida Institute of Technology Department of Athletics. September 5, 2019. Retrieved September 12, 2019.
- "Homecoming Football Game Moved to 7 p.m. Saturday Evening". Valdosta State University Department of Athletics. October 18, 2019. Retrieved October 18, 2019.
- "GSC Announces 2019 Football All-Conference Awards". Gulf South Conference. Retrieved November 20, 2019.
- "GSC Football Players of the Week: September 30, 2019". Gulf South Conference. Retrieved September 30, 2019.
- "GSC Football Players of the Week: September 23, 2019". Gulf South Conference. Retrieved September 24, 2019.
- "GSC Football Players of the Week: September 30, 2019". Gulf South Conference. Retrieved September 30, 2019.